This topic describes the internal components of Device Update Service, the Device Update Service Management Console, and the device updates folder, where updated image files and log files are stored.

Internal Components

The following figure shows the internal components of Device Update Service. All requests within Device Update Service run under the Internet Information Services (IIS) Application Pool identity, which is the service account under which the Web Components Server runs. By default, this account is RTCComponentService.

Figure 1. Internal Components of Device Update Service

Device Request Handler

The device request handler performs the following tasks:

  • Receives requests for software updates from Communicator Phone Edition and RoundTable devices.

  • Receives device logs and stores them on the server.

  • Generates audit logs for device update activity.

Device Update Service Management Console

The Device Update Service Management Console is available from the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 snap-in extension for the Computer Management console. The Device Update Service Management Console performs the following functions:

  • Configuration Management.Provides configuration settings for maintaining and purging log files and for purging updates files.

  • Update Upload Management.Writes data from uploaded update .cab files to the WMI data store and writes the image files to the device updates file store.

  • Approval Management.Provides the ability to approve or reject device updates for deployment and roll back updates to a previous version.

  • Test Device Management.Provides the ability to specify the devices that are to receive pending updates for testing purposes.

Device Updates Folder

The Device Updates folder serves as the central repository for the update information, logs, and audit information. It provides the installation point for devices that require updates.

On Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Standard Edition, this folder is automatically created by the installer and located in the Web Components folder under the installation folder. The default path is as follows:

%ProgramFiles%\Office Communications Server 2007 R2\Web Components\DeviceUpdateFiles

On Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Enterprise Edition, prior to installation the administrator creates a shared folder to contain both client and device update files. The administrator then specifies the location of this folder when running the Create Enterprise Pool wizard during deployment.

Caution:
Do not make any changes to the Device Updates folder or any of its folders or files. If you do, Device Update Service cannot correctly manage the files and you may experience errors.

Device Updates Cabinet Files

Microsoft makes updates available in cabinet (.cab files) that you can download from the Microsoft Help and Support Web site. An update .cab file contains updates for one or more unified communications (UC) devices. After obtaining the .cab file, you upload it to Device Update Service by using the Device Update Service Management Console. When you do this, the Management Console creates a folder structure within the Device Updates folder and populates it with the update images.

The following file types are contained in a Communicator Phone Edition update:

  • .cat: Security catalog

  • .nbt: Firmware image

  • .xml: Description file

The following file types are contained in a RoundTable update:

  • .cat: Security catalog

  • .bin: Firmware image

  • RTConfig.xml: Default configuration file